Comorbidities

The symptoms of chronic prostatitis relate to pain and two specific urological dimensions: Urination and ejaculation.

Beyond these specific dimensions of chronic prostatitis, patients with chronic prostatitis often complain about additional non-urological dimensions. In involving organ-specific and organ-nonspecific complaints, chronic prostatitis is not unique: Many chronic pain conditions are associated with increased likelihood of complaints across two or more organ systems. For example, interstitial cystitis is associated with increased risk of irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia Thus, chronic prostatitis is associated with an increased risk of:

The nature of the relationship between organ-specific and organ-nonspecific complaints such as irritable bowels in chronic pain syndroms has not been elucidated: Perhaps they are coincidental, perhaps they are causal. However, it has been theorized that the interplay of complaints in interstitial cystitis represents a sequential progression, starting with organ-specific complaints – bladder pain – and manifesting with time in organ-nonspecific pain; this theory has not yet been tested.

Early results from the ongoing prostatitis surgery trial have demonstrated that in individual cases surgery relieved pain, depression, and fatigue and that it has improved ability to think (see videos on the Home Page and testimonials linked above for examples). These early observations would seem to support the sequential-symptom theory and imply that the primary illness event is in some cases organ specific: It starts in the prostate and ends in other organ systems.